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Red Mosque Bloodbath: A Potent Reminder of the Fatal Flaws

On July 10th, 2007 Pakistan military stormed the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in the heart of the federal capital, Islamabad. The operation named Operation Silence was aimed at neutralizing a group of armed militant men and women who had assumed the role of moral brigade to impose Shariah in the capital city.The operation left a trail of death and destruction; some 150 militants, led by Maulana Abdul Rasheed Ghazi, fell to the explosives and bullets of the storming troops. About a dozen army men including a colonel and some commandos also lost their lives in action. The bloody assault left deep scars on Pakistan political landscape and triggered a new debate on the impact of a questionable war that President Pervez Musharraf had joined a week after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the United States. The emergence of the Ghazi force in the aftermath of the Operation Silence and the sharp increase in suicide attacks (36 within five months that year) on security forces and innocent Pakistanis are a potent reminder that state policies against militancy and extremism have inherent weaknesses which persist without much change in the method and vision of fighting terrorism and militancy.Lal Masjid sagain fact was a microcosm of the inherent flaws and weaknesses of the broad national policy of battling terrorism and extremism in all parts of the country. The hue and cry before and after the Operation Silence requires a detailed scrutiny of the policies of some state institutions i.e., a) the military and the intelligence apparatus and its nexus with militants, b) the role of media, and c) the consequence of these policies and attitudes. Background While the Lal Masjid had made it to the headlines on several occasions prior to 2007, in January that year , it was in the news again with the Molly Campbell story. Campbell¶child of a Pakistani father and a Scottish mother¶had come to live with her father in Pakistan and was admitted to Jamia Hafsa. She refused to go back with her...

Strained Pakistani Security Apparatus

Never before has Pakistan security apparatus been stretched , and under strain. From Karachi to Peshawar and further north it is constantly under attack. The army has lost more than 3,300 soldiers and officers, the ISI and the Military Intelligence have alsolost more than 100operatives in the last six years. It is nothing less than an open war on the interests of the state of Pakistan. Stunned and embarrassed by the American Navy Seals– unauthorised intrusion to get Osama bin Laden on May 2, the entire military and intelligence establishment today faces another unprecedented situation on the political front; following years of almost unchallenged direct or indirect authority, the security apparatus, for the first time, appears under strain, and confronted with an ever-growing chorus of accountability, including questions on its credibility and competence as the guardian of this country ideological frontiers. One of the questions arising out of these volatile circumstances is whether Pakistan intelligence establishment is professionally in sync with the unusual threat levels confronting the country today. Historically, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military Intelligence (MI), Special Branch, Crime Investigation Department (CID) ´ have had their share of failures or oversights ´ advertent or otherwise. But rarely have they faced accountability. Mostly they have stayed above the performance audit. The primary reason: the intelligence apparatus serves as the bedrock for the state notions of security, which flow from the military continued obsession with the 'geo-strategic relevance of Pakistan.'This combination ´ the state notions of security and its obsession with the country geo-strategic relevance ´ therefore essentially rules out real censure of the intelligence outfits, which has thus far acted as a supreme authority that can be, at times, intrusive, vindictive and destructive as well.Recently, the Supreme Court did confront...

CRSS Policy Dialogue on Balochistan: Demands for Implementation of Rights’ Package growing Stronger

Almost all speakers at a policy dialogue titled¿Aghaz-e Haqooq-e Balochistan Package (AHBP): Status and Way Forward– organized jointly by the Center for Research and Security Studies [CRSS] and ActionAid Pakistan on June 30th, demanded quick and sincere implementation of the rights– package that the prime minister Yousuf Reza Gilani had announced for Balochistan in November 2009. A former federal minister from Balochistan, Ayatullah Durrani, as well as a Senator Haji Adeel Khan from the Awami National Party (ANP), agreed that the implementation of the 39-point package, which was a response to the long-standing demands of Baloch nationalists, was slow and insufficient at the moment. But both also emphasized that rather than looking at the 'glass being half empty,' critics should look at the 'glass being half full ' which had become possible under a political government and through a grand political consensus in and outside the parliament. BothMr. Durrani and Haji Adeel pointed out that the tripling of federal financial resources for Balochistan for the fiscal 2011-2012 beginning first of July would not have been possible without the AHB Package. Holding the Balochi Sardars / tribal chieftainsresponsible for the injustices to the Balochi people, Ayatullah Durrani, who represents the Pakistan Peoples Party in the federal parliament, questioned as to ¿why not a single educational institution has been constructed by Jogezai, Jamali, Achakzai, Bugti and Raisani ? (names of big Balochi and Pashtoon tribes in Balochistan). For more details on the socio-political structures of Balochistan, please see the CRSS publication ' Pakistan Security Challenges'- available on the CRSS website in PDF Format). Mr Durrani said that getting involved in subversive activities is not the way to get rights but to engage with the Centre and press it for fulfilling its promises to the Balochi people.He said that the present government believes in dialogue with the Baloch dissidents but there...

CRSS Policy Dialogue on Balochistan: Demands for Implementation of Rights' Package growing Stronger

Almost all speakers at a policy dialogue titled¿Aghaz-e Haqooq-e Balochistan Package (AHBP): Status and Way Forward– organized jointly by the Center for Research and Security Studies [CRSS] and ActionAid Pakistan on June 30th, demanded quick and sincere implementation of the rights– package that the prime minister Yousuf Reza Gilani had announced for Balochistan in November 2009. A former federal minister from Balochistan, Ayatullah Durrani, as well as a Senator Haji Adeel Khan from the Awami National Party (ANP), agreed that the implementation of the 39-point package, which was a response to the long-standing demands of Baloch nationalists, was slow and insufficient at the moment. But both also emphasized that rather than looking at the 'glass being half empty,' critics should look at the 'glass being half full ' which had become possible under a political government and through a grand political consensus in and outside the parliament. BothMr. Durrani and Haji Adeel pointed out that the tripling of federal financial resources for Balochistan for the fiscal 2011-2012 beginning first of July would not have been possible without the AHB Package. Holding the Balochi Sardars / tribal chieftainsresponsible for the injustices to the Balochi people, Ayatullah Durrani, who represents the Pakistan Peoples Party in the federal parliament, questioned as to ¿why not a single educational institution has been constructed by Jogezai, Jamali, Achakzai, Bugti and Raisani ? (names of big Balochi and Pashtoon tribes in Balochistan). For more details on the socio-political structures of Balochistan, please see the CRSS publication ' Pakistan Security Challenges'- available on the CRSS website in PDF Format). Mr Durrani said that getting involved in subversive activities is not the way to get rights but to engage with the Centre and press it for fulfilling its promises to the Balochi people.He said that the present government believes in dialogue with the Baloch dissidents but there...

CRSS Policy Dialogue on Balochistan: Demands for Implementation of Rights' Package growing Stronger

Almost all speakers at a policy dialogue titled¿Aghaz-e Haqooq-e Balochistan Package (AHBP): Status and Way Forward– organized jointly by the Center for Research and Security Studies [CRSS] and ActionAid Pakistan on June 30th, demanded quick and sincere implementation of the rights– package that the prime minister Yousuf Reza Gilani had announced for Balochistan in November 2009. A former federal minister from Balochistan, Ayatullah Durrani, as well as a Senator Haji Adeel Khan from the Awami National Party (ANP), agreed that the implementation of the 39-point package, which was a response to the long-standing demands of Baloch nationalists, was slow and insufficient at the moment. But both also emphasized that rather than looking at the 'glass being half empty,' critics should look at the 'glass being half full ' which had become possible under a political government and through a grand political consensus in and outside the parliament. BothMr. Durrani and Haji Adeel pointed out that the tripling of federal financial resources for Balochistan for the fiscal 2011-2012 beginning first of July would not have been possible without the AHB Package. Holding the Balochi Sardars / tribal chieftainsresponsible for the injustices to the Balochi people, Ayatullah Durrani, who represents the Pakistan Peoples Party in the federal parliament, questioned as to ¿why not a single educational institution has been constructed by Jogezai, Jamali, Achakzai, Bugti and Raisani ? (names of big Balochi and Pashtoon tribes in Balochistan). For more details on the socio-political structures of Balochistan, please see the CRSS publication ' Pakistan Security Challenges'- available on the CRSS website in PDF Format). Mr Durrani said that getting involved in subversive activities is not the way to get rights but to engage with the Centre and press it for fulfilling its promises to the Balochi people.He said that the present government believes in dialogue with the Baloch dissidents but there...

Drawdown in Afghanistan: Implications for Pakistan

Amid criticism from various quarters¶including the U.S. military leadership¶on June 22nd, U.S. President, Barack Obama, announced pulling out 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by September 2012, with 10,000¶mostly non-combat¶troops starting to leave in July. The cost of the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan will touch the trillion dollar mark by the end of this year. In the backdrop of domestic financial crunch that is forcing President Obama to cut costs, the draw-down in troops in Afghanistan was inevitable. The logistics alone cost the U.S. and other NATO countries a whopping four billion dollars a year (CRSS Report). Afghanistan landlocked location has posed huge logistical challenges for the United States, requiring hundreds of shipping containers and fuel trucks ply every day from Pakistan and from the north to sustain the nearly 150,000 U.S. and allied forces stationed in Afghanistan, about half the total number of Afghan security forces. Supplying a single gallon of gasoline in Afghanistan reportedly costs the U.S. military an average of $400, while sustaining a single U.S. soldier runs around $1 million a year (by contrast, sustaining an Afghan soldier costs about $12,000 a year), reckons STRATFOR (Strategic Forecasting Inc., a global intelligence company). Two-thirds of this cargo¶about 50,000 containers¶transit through Pakistan every month, compared to the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), which runs through Central Asia and Russia (Moscow has agreed to continue to expand it) and entails a more than 5,000 kilometer, expensive rail route to the Baltic Sea and ports in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Obama speech, therefore, comes across as a mix of multiple considerations and compulsions, triggered by the window of opportunity provided with the death of Osama Bin Laden (OBL)¶one of the stated objectives of the Operation Enduring Freedom. One of the motivating factors behind the decision was the mounting domestic opposition to the war in Afghanistan...

Pakistan Army busts Hizb-ut-Tahrir Agent?

The Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate of the Pakistan military confirmed on June 21 that the army had arrested a serving brigadier by the name Ali Khan on May 6¶four days after the killing of Osama Bin Laden (OBL) in an operation by U.S. Navy SEALs. Khan was arrested on suspicion of his links with the banned extremist organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HT). He is not the first high-ranking army officer arrested for connections with HT. In May 2009, Col. Shahid Bashir was also arrested along with a retired Air Force officer and a U.S. Green Card-holding engineer for links with HT.[1] At the time of his arrest, Col. Bashir was serving at the Shamsi airfield in the Kharan district of Balochistan. The base had been under use of the American / NATO troops for drone as well as other aerial operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan tribal areas. It is likely that the two arrests of high-ranking officers in a span of exactly two year are not the last ones. A senior military official told CRSS that more officers are probably being questioned for suspected links with HT. The arrests indicate the presence of a radical mindset within the armed forces. On the other hand, it probably also reflects a new thinking: greater attention to all those who might be influenced by organizations such as HT. Moreover, if the army can demonstrate that it has gone after suspected militant officers successfully, it might be able to release some of the pressure it currently faces from the U.S., which is demanding that Pakistan do more to fight extremist elements in and outside the military. HT is a pan-Islamic organization with a reported membership of over a million in several countries.[2] It is very strong in UK and is banned in many Islamic countries. HT was first banned in Pakistan in 2004 by former president, Pervez Musharraf. The proscription was overruled, however, by the Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 2005.[3] The organization was presumably banned again and...

ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums: “Impact of Conflict on Women”

The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ActionAid Pakistan organized a roundtable, 'Impact of Conflict on Women in Balochistan' on June 16. The roundtable was third in a series of roundtables and seminars as part of the ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums. Ms. Rukhsana Shama of ActionAid initiated the discussion by sharing that 85 percent of the population of Dera Bugti had migrated¶including the minority communities. Sharing the findings of ActionAid studies, Shama shared that the male members of the displaced families were not repatriating back to Dera Bugti in as great numbers as the female members because of security and livelihoods concerns, which was creating its own conditions for the women in those areas who are already vulnerable in a tribal society rife with conflict. Shama agreed with the contention that there was a need for greater people-to-people contact of the Baloch with Pakistanis from other parts of the country. Dr. Rakshinda Parveen of Creative Anger by Rakhshi was of the view that inclusion of women in the decision-making processes is very important to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of the women in general in Balochistan . She added that the women from among the elite of Balochistan were not only aloof and insensitive, but also powerless and helpless in supporting the needy. Commenting on the non-elite women from among the masses in Balochistan, Parveen was of the opinion that they were more conscious and socially active, but suffered from loss of attention by the donor community. She suggested sustainable solutions to the problems of Balochi women through certain structural adjustments on priority basis, moreover she stressed that the Balochistan package should have a special stress on prioritizing women to make it more inclusive and gender friendly. Writer, columnist, and independent analyst, Mr. Harris Khalique, argued that tribal society of Balochistan should not be called backward, but...

ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums: "Impact of Conflict on Women"

The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ActionAid Pakistan organized a roundtable, 'Impact of Conflict on Women in Balochistan' on June 16. The roundtable was third in a series of roundtables and seminars as part of the ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums. Ms. Rukhsana Shama of ActionAid initiated the discussion by sharing that 85 percent of the population of Dera Bugti had migrated¶including the minority communities. Sharing the findings of ActionAid studies, Shama shared that the male members of the displaced families were not repatriating back to Dera Bugti in as great numbers as the female members because of security and livelihoods concerns, which was creating its own conditions for the women in those areas who are already vulnerable in a tribal society rife with conflict. Shama agreed with the contention that there was a need for greater people-to-people contact of the Baloch with Pakistanis from other parts of the country. Dr. Rakshinda Parveen of Creative Anger by Rakhshi was of the view that inclusion of women in the decision-making processes is very important to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of the women in general in Balochistan . She added that the women from among the elite of Balochistan were not only aloof and insensitive, but also powerless and helpless in supporting the needy. Commenting on the non-elite women from among the masses in Balochistan, Parveen was of the opinion that they were more conscious and socially active, but suffered from loss of attention by the donor community. She suggested sustainable solutions to the problems of Balochi women through certain structural adjustments on priority basis, moreover she stressed that the Balochistan package should have a special stress on prioritizing women to make it more inclusive and gender friendly. Writer, columnist, and independent analyst, Mr. Harris Khalique, argued that tribal society of Balochistan should not be called backward, but...

ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums: "Impact of Conflict on Women"

The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in collaboration with ActionAid Pakistan organized a roundtable, 'Impact of Conflict on Women in Balochistan' on June 16. The roundtable was third in a series of roundtables and seminars as part of the ActionAid-CRSS Balochistan Forums. Ms. Rukhsana Shama of ActionAid initiated the discussion by sharing that 85 percent of the population of Dera Bugti had migrated¶including the minority communities. Sharing the findings of ActionAid studies, Shama shared that the male members of the displaced families were not repatriating back to Dera Bugti in as great numbers as the female members because of security and livelihoods concerns, which was creating its own conditions for the women in those areas who are already vulnerable in a tribal society rife with conflict. Shama agreed with the contention that there was a need for greater people-to-people contact of the Baloch with Pakistanis from other parts of the country. Dr. Rakshinda Parveen of Creative Anger by Rakhshi was of the view that inclusion of women in the decision-making processes is very important to improve the overall socio-economic conditions of the women in general in Balochistan . She added that the women from among the elite of Balochistan were not only aloof and insensitive, but also powerless and helpless in supporting the needy. Commenting on the non-elite women from among the masses in Balochistan, Parveen was of the opinion that they were more conscious and socially active, but suffered from loss of attention by the donor community. She suggested sustainable solutions to the problems of Balochi women through certain structural adjustments on priority basis, moreover she stressed that the Balochistan package should have a special stress on prioritizing women to make it more inclusive and gender friendly. Writer, columnist, and independent analyst, Mr. Harris Khalique, argued that tribal society of Balochistan should not be called backward, but...